


Simple Magic

by HyenaInASportsBra



Series: Simple Magic [1]
Category: Zootopia
Genre: Fantasy, Gen, Zootopia - Freeform, magic school au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-16
Updated: 2018-04-16
Packaged: 2019-04-23 19:51:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14339748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HyenaInASportsBra/pseuds/HyenaInASportsBra
Summary: In another world, where Zootopia is a land of fantasy and magic, students Gideon Grey and Judy Hopps attend their lessons every day. Some, however, learn more quickly than others.





	1. Simple Magic

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my first entry on AO3, brought in from my long-running tumble account. This little 3-part short was inspired by friend/artist/fellow Gideon Grey fan Gerardson, whose art you can find at gerardson.tumblr.com. Hope you enjoy! Thanks!

Mrs. Leomund made little marks on her clipboard as she surveyed her class, checking her students’ progress. Most were doing quite well. Sharla Sheepleton kept her wand steady, tongue stuck out between her lips as she concentrated on keeping the paper crane in the air. Bobby Catmull managed to float his a few shaky inches off the surface of his desk before sending it flying off toward the wall. Judy Hopps was already floating her crane in circles, watching with a satisfied grin as she got the wings to flap a little. No surprise there, Mrs. Leomund thought. Few students struggled with Intro to Transmutation, particularly in the early sessions.

This didn’t apply to everyone, however.

“Mr. Grey, are you having trouble?” said the tall panther as she approached the fox kit’s desk.

“Naw, I got it,” he protested, still waving his wand over the motionless paper crane.

“Perhaps it would help if you held the proper end,” she suggested flatly. Gideon sheepishly turned his wand around to hold the thicker end, scowling at the smatter of snickering from the rest of the class. “Students, mind your own work,” she warned. “Now, Mr. Grey, concentrate on the angle of your wand and the natural forces around the object. Consult your notes if you have to.”

Gideon nodded and squinted at the scrawling script over the crinkled pages, dotted with stray ink and doodles in the margins. Needs better penmanship, Mrs. Leomund wrote on her clipboard. He narrowed his eyes, and took a deep breath, holding his wand like a butcher’s knife. He glared at the little crane, and after several moments, it began to twitch and crinkle, as one wing lifted hesitantly off the surface of the desk. A smile spread across his muzzle.

In an instant, the paper crane was flattened like a pancake to the surface of his desk, crushed beyond recognition by an invisible force.

Mrs. Leomund sighed, adjusting her glasses as laughter broke out.

“I’ll see you after class, Mr. Grey,” she intoned, setting her quill in her clipboard. “Mr. Catumull, familiars off our desks until class is done,” she barked as the cougar cub attempted to set his cricket on the back of the floating crane.

Judy watched Gideon drop his head on his desk with a groan, further flattening his paper crane. She frowned. It seemed so easy. She looked over her meticulous notes and diagrams, along with different wand angle trajectories. It couldn’t be that difficult. She hated seeing someone struggle, even a bully like Gideon.

“Magic really isn’t meant for everyone,” she heard Mrs. Leomund murmur just as the bell rang.

The comment Judy’s hair stand on end. It wasn’t fair. She was going to help Gideon, she decided, and began to formulate a tutorial program as she gathered her books and spider cage and dashed for the door.

-

Judy crossed the grassy quad as a girl on a mission. Despite her friends’ warnings, she approached the shady tree in the corner of the quad, where the pudgy fox kit sat munching a sandwich and watching his familiar, a fat, green caterpillar, inch along his arm. She patted Merlin, her spider familiar, on his big, hairy head, gently pushing him down into her bag.

Gideon looked up as the tiny shadow fell over him. He frowned.

“Whatchu want, Hopps?” he grumbled, feet crossed as he held his caterpillar protectively.

“I wanna help you,” the bunny announced, putting on a bright smile. She held out a thick ream of paper laden with notes.

“Don’t care,” he snorted. “Don’t need no help.”

“But, in Intro to Transmutation…” she started, taken aback.

“Who cares,” he said coldly. “Gonna fail out anyway, go back to my daddy’s farm. I’ll never be anything else anyhow.”

Judy’s ears dropped as Gideon went back to staring across the quad. His words were sharp, but there was a distant look in his eyes.

Plopping down next to him, she began rifling through his bag.

“Hey!” he protested through a mouthful of peanut butter & jelly, his caterpillar rearing up with alarm.

“Let me see your notes,” she demanded, and whipped them out, looking over the disjointed, disorganized scribbles. She blinked, trying to comprehend them. “Not to be mean, but, uhm, these aren’t very good.”

“Whatever,” Gideon rolled his eyes. “Ain’t my fault class is so boring. I can barely keep my eyes open.”

“I guess it’s little dry…” Judy said, eyeing her stack of papers. “But it’s really not that hard. Look- I made a study guide for you.”

She held the papers out. He stared at them for a moment, then looked dubiously up at her.

“Thanks but… I can’t do magic. Just… ain’t for me,” he sighed.

“That’s not true!” She interjected. “Anyone can learn magic, you just have to try. Maybe you just learn in a different way, that’s all.”

“Whatever,” he repeated. “That’s fancy talk for ’ you’re a dim bulb’. Ouch, dangit, Bessie!” he suddenly shouted as his familiar bit into his palm. “Alright, alright, hang on, geez, yer always hungry, aintcha?”

Gideon took a deep breath, and held his paw out, palm down, just barely touching the tips of the grass in front of him. Bessie crawled to the end of his finger in anticipation. He exhaled slowly, closing his eyes. He restrained a giggle as the blades of grass rose up between his fingers, tickling his paw pads. Among the tiny patch, a lush, fresh daisy grew upward, bright and colorful. Bessie attacked it with all the ferocity a caterpillar could muster, sliding off of Gideon’s finger and clinging to her lunch.

Judy’s jaw dropped.

“Gideon,” she gasped. “How did you do that?”

He blinked, confused, looking at her stunned expression.

“What? That? I dunno, I jus’ do that whenever Bessie gets hungry for flowers. I just kinda hold out my hand an’… sorta encourage it to grow, an’ it does.” He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Why?”

“That’s an incredibly advanced evocation spell,” she practically shouted. “Can you do it again? Can you show me?”

He repeated his process several times, eventually surrounding them in tall patches of thick, green grass, each time Gideon growing more and more excited.

“You mean, I really can do magic?” he squeaked.

“Heck yeah, you can!” Judy squealed. She jumped to her feet, grabbing her bag as she set an agitated Merlin on her shoulder. Grabbing Gideon’s paw, she started tugging the heavier fox toward the library.

“Whoa, wait, where’re we goin’?” He nearly stumbled, grabbing Bessie and his bag.

“Come on,” she encouraged, smiling back at him. “We got work to do. You’re gonna be a great wizard, Gideon!”

Gideon wordlessly followed with his paw in Judy’s, wondering what kind of magic made his cheeks grow warm like that.


	2. Simple Magic: Field Trip, part I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gideon Grey, Judy Hopps, and their classmates go on a field trip to an ancient temple deep in the mountains with grumpy chaperone Nick Wilde. Trouble arises when Gideon and Judy go off the beaten path...

Deep in the mountains, nestled between thickly-forested slopes and surrounded by a clear, serene pool of cool water, sat an ancient temple. Its original purpose was long forgotten, lost through eons of reuse and reoccupation. In its more recent centuries, kings, priests, and wizards alike held court within its walls. Storm and war raged through the valley where it stood, the years carved deep into the earth around it. Still, the stone facade endured, and the temple stood strong, right into modern day, where instructors used its storied history to educate young minds.

On a clear, sunny afternoon, a gaggle of school-aged witches and wizards murmured with varying degrees of excitement as their chaperones opened the massive doors and ushered the children inside. Between the two titanic pillars that stood on either side of the doorway, they broke into groups, each composed of a handful of students and and upperclassman minder.

A green-eyed fox surveyed his assigned group with an inward sigh. He hated kids, but the extra credit was hard to pass up, credit he could possibly use to leverage placement in an advanced class, which happened to also have a handsome wolf that had caught his eye these last few weeks.

Let’s just get through this first, Nicholas Wilde grumbled.

“Okay, grasshoppers, hold still so I can take roll,” he commanded, looking over his list. “Bobby Catmull; Gideon Grey; Travis Ferretez; Judith Hopps; Sharla Sheepleton. Great.” He dotted his list as he counted each head, the younger students standing around the older fox while other groups streamed into the temple. He turned to his charges. “Alright, here’s the score, children- do as I say, don’t touch anything, and don’t wander off. Listen to the tour guide, don’t walk too slow, and again, don’t wander off. A lot of this place is still unexplored. Stay around the designated areas, and we’ll be fine. The quicker we get through this the better. Got it?”

“Yes,” they sighed in unison.

“Yes what?”

“Yes, Nicky.” Sharla quipped, earning a glare from the lean fox.

“Whatever. Now buddy up- Catmull, you’re with Ferretz, Sheelpetoon, you’re with Hopps. Grey, you’re with me. Not by choice, mind you,” Nick rolled his eyes. “I always get the trouble kids…”

He tapped his foot impatiently as the kids paired off, forming two short lines. He looked out over the small sea of kids, scanning for his crush among the upper classmen. He frowned, looking around him.

“Grey? Grey!” he barked, glaring at the blank-faced kit standing next to Judy. “I said you’re with me!”

He narrowed his eyes as the kit continued to stand there, unmoving, simply gazing back him. Travis shifted nervously, his paw twiddling at the base of his wand. Nick marched up to the younger fox, drawing his wand. The other kids watched as he turned his wand point-down and promptly shoved it straight into Gideon’s forehead.

Sharla’s shriek of horror rang out over the temple, cutting through the din of the crowd. It was unwarranted, however, as the expected gruesomeness was not produced. In an instant, Gideon and Judy vanished into thin air, leaving no trace of their corporeal bodies. The whimper of a ferret made Nick’s ears twitch.

He whipped around, grabbing Travis by the collar as his ears went flat.

“Okay, Ferretez, where are they?” he growled.

“I-I dunno!” The ferret squirmed in Nick’s grip, tail slipped between his stubby legs.

“Listen, kid, if you cost me this credit, I will make sure you will regret it,” he hissed. “Let me guess, they slipped away while I was taking roll? What'dya do, stay up all night learning that spell?”

Travis nodded with another whimper.

“Where did they go?” Nick repeated. Travis confessed, detailing Gideon’s plan. He rubbed his eyes with a heavy sigh. “I hate kids.”

He hustled them over to the nearest group, grabbing their chubby chaperone’s attention.

“Ben! Ben, listen, I need a huge favor,” He begged quietly, squeezing the bewildered cheetah’s arm.

“Wha- Nick?” Benjamin blinked, his tail instinctively curling in alarm.

“Look, can you watch my kids for just a teensy little while? I will owe you big time,” Nick begged.

“Uh, s-sure, Nick,” he stammered. Looking in confusion between the two groups. “I-is everything okay?”

“Yep, peachy!” Nick gave a big, bright grin. “Just need to tie up a loose end,” he added with a venomous glare at Travis.

“Oh, o-okay-”

“Thanks, you’re a doll, Clawhauser!” Nick planted a kiss on the blushing cheetah’s cheek, and zipped off to the lesser-traveled parts of the ancient temple.

Benjamin blinked again, rubbing his cheek in a daze.

“Uh, Mr. Clawhauser?” Sharla piped up, pointing to a crumbling statue of a lyre-stroking stoat, where Bobby Catmull was attempting to climb and touch the marble instrument.

Benjamin yelped and rushed to pull the errant cub away from the centuries-old piece.


	3. Simple Magic: Field Trip, part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Deep in the old temple, Gideon and Judy find a mysterious chamber, where ancient things lurk in the shadows...

Deep in the quiet, isolated temple, in a dark and forgotten tunnel, a chubby fist burst through the wall of cobwebs and and dust, pushing over crumbling stones. An equally chubby fox and a lean rabbit followed, their clothes and fur dirty from their secretive journey.

Gideon coughed and sneezed, brushing off his overalls.

“See, toldja! Ah knew we wasn’t lost,” he announced proudly before blowing his nose into a handkerchief. Bessie greatly objected to the intrusion, making her opinion known by biting Gideon’s paw as he replaced the dirty handkerchief. “Ow! Dang caterpillar…”

“Wow,” Judy gazed about in wonder. Gideon had lead them into a large, dome-shaped chamber, the inner walls aged but still as smooth as glass. She whispered a word at her wand, and the tip flickered into a tiny light as she gazed about. As the light grew, hundreds of indecipherable runes showed themselves, etched into the wall and up to the ceiling above. In the center stood a tall dais with a narrow staircase wound around the outside, its top hidden from view.

She took a step and gasped sharply as she crushed something beneath her foot. Lowering her light, she saw the floor was littered with plump fungi, the rust-brown caps glistening in her wand’s light. They ranged from a few inches to nearly a foot in diameter, all gathered around the dais like worshippers at some long-forgotten service.

“C'mon,” Gideon urged, and took her by the paw, leading her between the sticky toadstools towards the dais. A fuzzy little shape crawled out of her backpack, jumped on the closest mushroom, and began darting between the stalks in curiosity.

“Merlin!” she scolded her spider. “Don’t go wandering off!”

“Aw, he’s alright, he can’t go too far,” Gideon assured.

“What did you say this place was again?” she asked, following the fox.

“'Chamber of Caramello- Cornetto- Corolla- Cara-something Librarian’,” he attempted, nose scrunched as he tried to remember. “'Least thats what Duke told me when he sold me the map.”

“You bought a map from the janitor?”

“Yeah,” Gideon shrugged, looking back at her. “We got here, didn’t we?”

“I guess so…”

They reached the foot of the stairs, looking up at the dais. It stretched more than halfway to the ceiling, towering above the two students. Judy squinted, trying to read the runes on the walls. One strange symbol had been carved deep into the apex of the dome, directly above the platform at the top of the dais. They began to climb, one step at a time, paw-in-paw as they hugged the dais on their ascent.

“I don’t even recognize this language, Gid,” she commented, a smile breaking across her face as the rabbit buzzed with excitement. “This is so cool,” she whispered.

“Ah knew you’d like it,” Gideon grinned, his cheeks and ears growing warm. His plan was working perfectly. Other than that time they almost fell into the bottomless pit, but they avoided it. And maybe having to squeeze past those rusty old spikes in the tunnel. (At least, he hoped it was rust). But other than than those little hiccups, it was working. Judy was grinning with excitement. He’d done something right.

For several weeks, they had studied closely together. Despite his misgivings, he actually had improved in his studies. Teachers hassled him less and less, and even the other students hadn’t been teasing him as much. With more of his time dedicated to studying with Judy, he hadn’t done much bullying lately. Even Travis had joined them sometimes, although Gideon often found himself wishing it were just he and Judy. He felt so strange around her. Brave, somehow, and excited. School wasn’t so boring anymore. For the first time, he felt as though he were more than just some farm boy fox without a future.

Sore and almost out of breath, he reached the top of the dais as Judy hopped up beside him, having hardly broken a sweat. She gasped, pointing to the center of the platform.

A crumbling, mushroom-dotted pillar sat in the center of the platform, its carved edges worn by time and fungus. Atop the pillar rested a gleaming, jagged crystal, balancing on a single point, the light from Judy’s wand reflecting a dark blue hue.

“What is that, Gideon?” Judy whispered.

“I dunno,” he responded, gazing at the strange crystal. “Let’s see!”

Together they approached, standing on either side of the pillar. The crystal was just short of a foot in length, standing eye-level with the two students. Squinting, Gideon could see Judy’s face through the crystal, made twisted and angular through its irregular surfaces. He laughed, which made her frown, and he giggled harder. Seeing Gid’s grin through the crystal made her laugh, too.

Disarmed, the bunny reached forward, and gently placed her paw on the crystal.

“Gideon,” she said, hushed. “It’s warm.”

Gideon followed suit, and placed his paw on the opposite side. She was right. The crystal gave a dull warmth, despite the cooler ambient temperature in its chamber. Judy spread her paw out, comparing it to the wide, dark paw of her fox friend.

“It’s nice,” he said quietly, his tail twitching.

“Cool…” she whispered. She smiled at him, her violet eyes wide, and his heart leapt, a warmth of a different kind blooming in his chest and melting into his belly.

They blinked as the chamber grew brighter. Judy frowned, looking at the tip of her wand in confusion.

“Uh, Judy,” Gideon murmured, eyes widening.

The crystal had begun to vibrate softly, and at its center, a single point of light emerged and grew quickly, bathing them in a dim, blue glow. It began to pulse, and the dais beneath their feet hummed. They backed away from the crystal, and the runes carved in the walls, still for eons, began to glow the same eerie blue light as the crystal they guarded.

“Maybe we should go back,” Judy said quickly.

“Yeah, sounds good,” Gideon agreed, his tail stiff.

They jogged down the stairs as fast as they dared, nearly slipping as the dais trembled. They reached the bottom of the stairs, and Gideon made a dash for the tunnel, jumping between the slick mushrooms. He glanced back, and stopped as he realized Judy was still at the foot of the stairs, standing still as stone. Her ears were straight up, eyes wide, her whole body rigid with fear.

“Judy, c'mon!” he called out.

“Gideon…” she whispered, her voice trembling. “There’s something in here…”

Gideon’s ears flattened as a shadow passed over them, a dark shape slithering between glowing runes as it curled around the ceiling. A chill dripped down the kit’s spine with the distinct feeling that they were being watched.

Without thinking, he dashed across the chamber, grabbed the bunny by the paw and pulled her desperately toward the tunnel, his heart pounding. Before they could duck inside, a figure burst through the broken cobwebs and crumbled stone, growling as he stood over them, panting hard and glowering.

“Nick!”

“You little turds are in so much trouble-!” the tall, lean fox growled, fangs bared.

“Not now! We gotta go!” Gideon shrieked.

“What the- what did you do?” Nick accused, looking around the glowing chamber. “What is this place?”

“We don’t have time!” Judy screamed, panicking.

“What’re you screaming-” Nick was cut off by a deep, throaty rumble that shook the room. His ears fell as he saw a long, smooth body crawl along the wall towards them, thicker around than he was tall, as a dozen legs pushed it forward, led by a pair of eyes glowing a sickly, hypnotic blue.

It lunged.

In a single movement, Nick whipped his wand free and uttered a breathless word, and the three of them were enveloped in a rippling, bubble-shaped haze. The enormous jaws snapped shut inches from Gideon’s face, giving the kit a gut-chilling glimpse of the thing’s blue-veined maw. Nick held the two of them tightly against him as his wand hummed, keeping the obscuring shield intact.

The wyrm glared down at them, hissing with displeasure. It looked around wildly, sniffing, crushing the mushrooms beneath its many feet as it hunted for them. The three mammals barely breathed as its coils wound past them, its slick skin sliding over the shield as it snaked past.

“Go. Carefully.” Nick whispered, his voice barely audible as he nudged the kits towards the tunnel. Judy’s tiny gasp cut them off.

“Merlin!”

The hairy, black tarantula darted between mushrooms, desperately avoiding the crushing weight of the wyrm’s coils. It scrunched itself against the wall, trying to be as small as possible.

“Kid, there are a lot more spiders out there,” Nick hissed. “Now get in the- dammit!”

He tried, and failed, to snag Gideon’s collar as the kit slipped out of the shield. Nick and Judy held their breath as he moved inch by inch, tip-toeing around the edge of the chamber as he snuck toward the cowering Merlin. The sound of the wyrm’s sniffing made his fur stand on end.

He scooped up the trembling ball of hair, tucked it into his pocket, and began his painstaking creep back to the safety of Nick’s shield.. He glanced up. The thing was was crawling up the dais now, following Gideon and Judy’s trail. The tunnel was just ahead, obscured by the shield spell. His heart pounded. He was nearly there.

A deafening crunch pierced the air. A dead and crumbling mushroom lay crushed under his foot, the tiny sound made enormous in the dank chamber. He froze. Nick and Judy froze. A sickly blue glow washed over the kit as the worm’s baleful eyes came to rest on him.

“RUN!” Nick screamed, and the kit obeyed, running harder than he ever thought he could. Fungi and rubble were kicked into the air as the wyrm dove for them, glowing like blue fire. Gideon could feel its hot breath on his neck, its fangs outstretched.

A burst of heat singed the fur on his ears, and the wyrm shrieked in pain, the sudden blast blinding it for a precious moment. Nick’s shield dissipated, revealing Judy holding a still-smoking wand pointed in the wyrm’s direction.

“Where did you learn that?” Nick demanded.

“Not now!” Gideon hollered, and they dove into the dusty tunnel with moments to spare.

The three ran desperately back towards the main temple, tripping over broken stones and centuries-old cobwebs. As they rounded the corner past the rusted spikes, their ears told them the crumbling walls were no match for wyrm’s bulk.

“It’s going to follow us back to the others,” Nick realized, panting. The thing roared as it forced itself through the tunnel behind them, and their ears rang with pain.

“We have to go another way!” Judy insisted, looking around desperately. They left the smaller section of the tunnel, which emptied out into a wider corridor, where the left path connected with the main plaza of the temple; to the right, the “secret way” Duke’s map had sent them.

“This way!” Gideon shouted, and pulled Nick and Judy toward the right. As they reached the corridor’s midsection, he pointed toward the floor. Nick nodded in understanding, and prepared a spell.

Moments later, the wyrm burst into the corridor, crushing the iron spikes, its jaws slavering, saliva leaving sticky blue trails as it went. It sniffed the air, lapping at its jaws. It followed their scent around the corner to the right, and, with a shriek of glee, it spotted three mammals cowering against the corner. It dove for them, its dozen, powerful legs moving its bulk at a deadly speed towards its prey.

All at once, the floor fell out from under it. A single roar of animalistic rage was all that was left behind as the wyrm fell deep into the earth, the empty blackness swallowing it whole. Nick’s illusion spell vanished, revealing the bottomless pit it concealed.

They waited several long moments before daring to breathe. Despite their pounding hearts and ringing ears, they shared a laugh of relief.

“You’re both so screwed,” Nick laughed, and grabbed the kits by the backs of their shirts.

-

Gideon twiddled his fingers, his ears low. Sitting outside the dean’s office awaiting punishment was nothing new for him, but this time he’d gotten Judy in trouble too, and for that he felt awful. If she hated him for the rest of her life for getting her kicked out of school, then he would understand. He could only hope it wouldn’t come to that.

He glanced up at her. She sat beside him, softly petting Merlin on its furry back, her ears drooping. She caught his eye, and gave a tiny smirk. His cheeks bloomed.

The dean’s office door opened, and Nick stepped into the hallway, closing it behind him. He flashed a grin at the kits.

“I told them everything.”

Their faces dropped.

“Oh, don’t worry,” he scoffed, rolling his eyes. “You’re not expelled or anything. They’re actually kind of impressed how you handled things. You’ll get suspended at worst.” Nick snidely assured them. “Not that either of you are off the hook. You cost me that extra credit, and you both owe me, big time.”

“Thanks, Nick,” Gideon sighed.

“Sorry,” Judy apologized.

“Eh, I’ll just earn it some other way.” Nick shrugged. He turned to leave them to their fate, but not before grinning at Gideon over his shoulder. “Next time, Gid, don’t try so hard to impress a girl.”

Gideon hid his face in his paws as Nick laughed down the hall. He peeked through his fingers to see Judy stifling a giggle. He blushed harder.

“I’m sorry,” he said meekly, staring at his paws. “It was a dumb idea, and I coulda got you hurt… or worse.”

“Well, yeah,” Judy admitted, her ears rising. “Buying a suspicious map from a sketchy janitor like Duke to go exploring in a dangerous, trap-filled temple where no one could find us was really, really dumb.”

Gideon sighed, shoulders slumping.

“But y'know…” she continued. “It was still pretty awesome. Thanks.”

The bunny leaned over and planted a kiss on the fox’s cheek.

He nearly fainted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! this part is longer than i meant it to be, but i got to combine my love for D&D and my love for Zootopia, and i had fun. This story is sort of a tester for how AO3 works. Most of my other fics can be found at hyenainasportsbra.tumblr.com. Thanks again!


End file.
